Recent advances in silicones have been made to enable new sensory dimensions such as feather-light smoothness, in addition to heat protection, hair repair and lasting frizz control. As such, this article describes the main silicone types and reviews how they have advanced hair care.

Jun 24, 2015

Jun 1, 2015Luigi Rigano, Ph.D., Rigano Laboratories, Milan, Italy

This column reviews basic shampoo formulation strategies then looks to dandruff mechanisms and the ingredients and strategies used to address it, including new concepts on the horizon for future product development.

Mar 20, 2015

Beauty oils for skin and hair have been quite popular, and Wella's Luxeoil Reconstructive Elixir is one of them. This column will review the ingredient listing for functionality and claims substantiation.

Previous work found soluble silicates in lye relaxers to impart positive effects. Therefore, a compound based on potassium silicate, alkyl polyglycoside and glycerin was developed to improve the effects of lye relaxers on the mechanical and sensorial properties of hair. This article explores various benefits of this compound using variations of two lye relaxer test formulations.

Today’s styling formulations are further optimized with polymer combinations. This is especially true for styling gel and wax formulations, with combinations of styling polymers and polymeric thickeners to achieve the right balance of rheology profile, setting performance and humidity resistance without sacrificing sensory properties, e.g. peaking, gel structure and clarity. Luviset One (INCI: Acrylates/Methacrylamide Copolymer) offers hair care formulators the opportunity to reduce the complexity of styling gel and wax formulations with the use of only one polymer.

Jul 29, 2014

Researchers from the University of New Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratories have reported nano-patterning a diffraction grating on human hair with a focused ion to allow the hair to reflect colors in the spectrum to produce a hair color pattern with a flat iron.

Jun 17, 2014Susan Raffy, Susan Raffy Consulting

This primer is formulated with exotic white orchid extract, to help seal and protect each hair strand; repelling water to colored hair remarkably vibrant. This column will review the ingredient listing for functionality and claims substantiation.

Jun 1, 2014

Many approaches can be used to fight hair damage and aging. These include repairing hair structure to recover as much of its integrity as possible and treating hair with specified ingredients to increase strength and resilience. In addition, promoting hair growth can be accomplished by acting on the scalp. The practical application of these strategies is described here.

Apr 11, 2014

During in-cosmetics 2014, Solvay launched a conditioning solution created to meet market demands for silicone-free, sulfate-free, oil-based and oil-free shampoos. The system targets not the hair type, but the type of effect desired from shampoos.